


Home's at Heart

by Aniveous



Category: Nemesis - April Daniels
Genre: Canon Trans Character, Danny deserves better, Doc Impossible is a Robo Mom, LGBT+, canon abusive parents, crappy parents, getting kicked out for being trans, post book one, pre-book two
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-21
Updated: 2020-01-21
Packaged: 2021-02-27 03:21:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22350235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aniveous/pseuds/Aniveous
Summary: Danny catches a glimpse of home. Then returns to the one where her heart is.
Comments: 7
Kudos: 14





	Home's at Heart

**Author's Note:**

> SO Dreadnought is now my favourite book of all time and there's hardly any freakin' fandom and only some fanfiction
> 
> So fine, I'll do it myself T^T

She was floating. City lights twinkled beneath her like stars. She lay lax in the black sky, as though she were floating in a dark body of water rather than through thin air. Her eyes were closed, and she kept her breathing slow and steady.

Danny didn't think she'd ever get used to this. Floating above the world.

It was so peaceful up here.

She shifting, lazily flipping over so that she was facing down towards the city. Things had been quiet, which was nice. Usually, she was happy to take on a wild fight. There was nothing quite like it. She _enjoyed_ fighting. Perhaps a little more than she should. But tonight, she was happy to enjoy the peace and quiet.

She was above some suburbs now, not far from the inner city. She glanced over them, and for a moment was confused at their familiarity. Then it hit it with a faint surprise and she drew to a stop in the air. She was only a few streets down from home.

No. No, not home. Old home. Her old house.

Danny looked over the houses with an almost detached nostalgia. She used to live here. Back in the Before. Back when she painted her toenails behind locked doors and alleyways, back when her hair was too short and her shoulders were too broad, back when everything was _wrong_ and she had to hide, hide, hide because she'd had no other choice. Back when she wondered whether or not she'd make it to eighteen.

… She should get home. Or, well, back to Doctor Impossible's place. Danny supposed it was technically _her_ place too, but… well. She didn't want to assume. She wasn't sure how permanent this arrangement of theirs was, and she was too afraid to try and find out.

So, Doc's place. She should get back to Doc's place. It was getting late.

She started floating closer to the streets instead.

No, no, no. Idiot. Stop it.

She drew to a stop just above the houses. She clenched her eyes shut, taking a few deep breaths. What was she _doing?_ She didn't want to see them. They hated her. They kicked her out. Her dad had screamed at her until she had permanent damage in one of her ears and her mum… her mum…

Well, she'd done nothing.

Danny had never been happy with them. Not really.

So why was she lowering herself to the ground?

She walked and came to a stop underneath a blasted streetlamp. She hid in the dark and watched the house. Her house.

Her _old_ house, she reminded herself.

The lights were out. They were sleeping.

She should get back to Doc's.

She crossed the street instead.

Danny crossed the front garden almost as though she were in a dream. She peeked through the kitchen window, but the curtains were closed. She made her way around the back and floated upwards to her bedroom window- her _old_ bedroom window.

She pressed her face up to the glass, holding her breath so she didn't fog up the class. It was dark in there as well, but the curtains weren't drawn. Her bed was still there with its sunken mattress. Her desk. Her wardrobe was thrown open and empty, and she could see a roll of black bin bags sitting on her desk. Her laptop was gone as well. With a twist of her mouth, she realised her dad had likely sold a bunch of her stuff.

They were erasing her from their life.

Erasing her old life.

She didn't know why it hurt so much. Didn't know why her throat closed.

She hadn't cried when it happened. She hadn't really _cared_ that much when it happened, besides the fact that she was hungry the following morning and kept thinking of the pizza Doc had owed her.

Well, perhaps she did care, but… she'd been free.

She'd been free and she never, ever wanted to go back.

And yet…

She hadn't thought they'd _erase_ her.

Then again, she hadn't really thought about it.

God, why did she even care? Why did it matter? She wasn't coming back. Doc could get her all the dresses and makeup and laptops she wanted. She had a new room and a new bed and a new wardrobe. And more importantly, she felt _safe._ She didn't have to hide. She could paint all twenty nails in bright colours and walk around barefoot and glove-less. She could spin in dresses and try to teach herself to walk in high heels. She could do anything and everything and no one could stop her even if they wanted to.

She was free.

_Free._

So she turned her back to the barren room on the other side of the window and flew away.

She didn't look back.

* * *

Doctor Impossible was lounged on the couch with her feet up on the coffee table, sucking on a lollipop and absently watching Spongebob. Gut was curled up in his bed in the corner, legs kicking as he dreamed, pug nose twitching. He snorted and sat up as Danny came in through the door, before realising it was just her and lying back down.

"Hey, kid," Doc said, not looking up from her show, "How'd caping go?"

Danny opened her mouth to answer, but nothing came out. It was like she'd lost her voice. After a moment, Doc looked over the back of the couch at her.

"Danny? You okay?"

"Yeah," Danny said. She'd meant her voice to come out strong and casual, but it came out small and quiet. Doc sat up properly.

"Did something happen?"

"No. Yes. No."

Idiot.

"Okay, Ms Indecisive," Doc stretched and turned the TV, gesturing for Danny to come over. She plopped down on the couch next to Doc, stupid and annoyed at herself and just kind of wanting to go to bed. But then Doc put an arm around her shoulders and Danny sunk into her side with a small sigh.

"Hard night?" Doc asked, after a moment of almost blissful silence. Danny shook her head.

"Opposite."

"Aw, no one to beat up?"

Her lips twitched, but only for a moment, "Nah. I, uh… I dropped by my parent's house."

"Oh," said Doc, surprised. She was quiet for a moment. "What did that bastard say to you?"

Danny quickly shook her head, "I didn't- I didn't talk to them. They were sleeping. It's just…"

She trailed off. Doc waited patiently, absently running a hand over her head. Gut snored in his bed. Finally, Danny swallowed.

"I looked through my old bedroom window. They've, uh… they've pretty much gotten rid of anything. It's like I was never even there," she looked down at the coffee table, her chest twisting and her throat tight. She was so stupid. "It's dumb, but…"

"Dumb?" Doc cut in, brow furrowing, "Danny, that's terrible. You've got a right to be upset."

"But it's not like I'm ever gonna go back there," Danny muttered. Doc shook her head.

"Doesn't matter," she said, "Any decent parent would have kept your room the way it was. Hell, any decent parent wouldn't have kicked you out, but…"

She huffed, then shook her head again. She sucked on her lollipop, the way Danny knew she did when she was starting to crave a cigarette. She was trying to quit.

"Look, what I'm trying to say is that you deserve to be upset," she said, after a moment, "Your parents are supposed to love you, no matter how 'against' their ideals you are. Kicking you to the streets with nothing but the clothes on your back was one thing. Getting rid of your room…"

She trailed off. Danny buried into her, abruptly feeling small. She could fly. She could punch holes through the side of buildings. She could break bones with ease and catch a falling plane out of the sky. She could shoot right out into space and circle the Earth. She could see the lattice, the reality of the world, and she can tug at the strings and manipulate them.

But in that moment, she felt young and small (like she actually was). Doc held her close and rubbed her back.

"Tell you what," she said quietly, "Let's drink some hot chocolate and put a movie on. Hell, I got you that makeup kit, right? Bust it out, let's paint nails or whatever. Girl junk. Would you like that?"

Danny wiped at her eyes, throat tight, and nodded. Doc smiled at her. Gut grumbled sleepily.

"Awesome," she said, "Now, how about _The Lego Movie_?"

"You're a literal child."

Doc laughed, "Shush, girl."


End file.
